A fast-growing segment in the aftermarket are motorsport accessories for production-based vehicles. Many sports car drivers with an affinity for motorsports take their sports cars to track days at various racetracks. KW automotive developed the Clubsport coilover especially for this customer group of sports car drivers, and has successfully established them on the market worldwide. KW automotive is consistently relying on its KW Solid Piston dampers, established in GT3 motorsport, is adapting them for road-legal sports cars. The four-way adjustable KW V5 Clubsport coilover suspension is the first to be released for the Mercedes-AMG GT R with parts certification.
For years, all KW automotive customers benefit from the know-how in the development and production of homologated motorsport suspension applications. It makes no difference whether KW customers are individual car enthusiasts or car manufacturers. For example, KW was suspension supplier for numerous Mercedes-AMG Black Series models. The suspension manufacturer also delivered their Special OE coilovers directly to the Mercedes plant for the Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro special model, which is limited to 750 units.
When it was launched, the GT R Pro was particularly appreciated for its sporty handling, and many automotive journalists wrote that there is hardly a sports car like the Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro that is so close to a race car despite being road-legal. “With the KW V5 Clubsport, we now even go a few steps further than with the original equipment for the AMG GT R Pro, so that we can work much better with the hydraulics themselves by the use of our solid-piston dampers. Even at low suspension travel, we achieve exactly the kind of damping that keeps a sports car safe and easy to drive at all times – even at the driving dynamics limit on the Nürburgring Nordschleife,” says Maren Vogt, KW Brand Manager for Track Performance, describing the main difference between the new V5 Clubsport coilover suspension and other suspension applications for the AMG GT R.
The KW V5 Clubsport coilover suspension in detail
The entire suspension design of the KW V5 Clubsport coilover suspension with aluminum unibal top mounts, racing springs, and four-way adjustable dampers is designed for use with semi-slick tires on production-based vehicles. During aggressive steering maneuvers and the famous compression at the Nordschleife track section “Fuchsröhre”, the body structure of the Mercedes-AMG GT R remains perfectly supported. Thanks to the adjustable multi-valve technology, the KW V5 Clubsport smoothly dampens bumps and relatively large cross connections. With KW V5 Clubsport coilover suspension, the Mercedes remains in control when cutting curbs. “Using our Clubsport suspension design, we already bring a certain calmness to the car in the pre-set basic setup without having to make any compromises in performance,” is how Maren Vogt describes the suspension.
With the KW Solid Piston dampers in the KW V5 Clubsport coilover suspension, the hydraulic fluid does not flow over the working piston, as it does with conventional monotube and twin-tube dampers. The piston displaces the oil column directly into the valve housing, where the damper fluid flows through the low-speed needle valves and high-speed wave valves. “With the entire Clubsport suspension design, we already bring a certain calm to the car in the pre-set basic setup without having to make any sacrifices in performance,” is how Maren Vogt describes the suspension. The ergonomically shaped adjustment wheels are used to set the compression and rebound forces separately in both low-speed and highspeed range without having to use any tools.
“Because the Mercedes-AMG GT R has an independent suspension with double wishbones all around, there are no wheel-leading forces directly on the KW V5 Clubsport coilovers,” Maren Vogt explains. “For other cars, such as the BMW M4 (G82), we will manufacture the V5 Clubsport with wheel-guided MacPherson front axle struts KW damper cartridges in upside-down configuration.” Like all KW Clubsport coilovers, the KW V5 Clubsport also comes with a parts certificate and is immediately available for all Mercedes-AMG GT R sports cars. The continuously adjustable lowering is between 10 – 25 millimeters at the front and drive axles. The standard delivery range of the KW coilover suspension, which is made of a high-strength aluminum alloy, also includes Unibaldom bearings. Due to the axle geometry, these are not adjustable in the camber. The KW V5 Clubsport kit is currently also in development for other vehicles and sports cars.
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